Since Tony Stewart wanted to punch Joey Logano following the March 24 Sprint Cup race at California, the debate has raged over racing etiquette when a driver has a run in another lane. Should he block to protect his position, or is that totally unacceptable?

In many road-racing series, there are rules about blocking. In NASCAR, there are no rules as such incidents tend to get handled when one driver wrecks another, sending a message that the blocking was not appreciated.

“I would expect and accept to be blocked in certain situations. But you've got to give me racetrack. You've got to give me somewhere to run. You can't just run me up into the fence.”

On the final restart of the Auto Club 400, Logano dove down into the inside lane to block Stewart and force him to the apron.

Afterward, Stewart hit Logano’s car on pit road and shoved him before the drivers had to be separated.

Logano thought the move was totally acceptable late in the race and said he wasn’t even sure what Stewart was angry about.

“I had to throw the block there,” said Logano, who finished third in the race. “That was a race for the lead. I felt if the 14 (of Stewart) got underneath me, that was going to be the end of my opportunity to win the race, so I was just trying to protect the spot I had.”

Stewart, whose blocks at recent restrictor-plate races have caused accidents, said he would have wrecked Logano if his car didn’t stall out when it hit the rev limiter.

“He has that right,” Stewart said after the race. “He has the choice to do that. He’s in control of his car. But if he ever turns down across in front of me again, I don’t care what lap it is, he won’t make it through the other end of it.”

“Blocking is a chicken way to drive. … It's just something I don't do,” Newman said. “If you've got a run on me, take it. If I can get through the corner better than you, then we'll race.”

Earnhardt said the circumstances play a role in when blocking might be warranted.

“In certain situations, that's your only alternative,” Earnhardt said. “But you've got to give people racing room or expect to get turned around or expect to make a few people upset.

“I'm not really picking sides either way (from last week). I think, in my opinion, it was just hard racing. The guy is leading the race. He's trying to do what he can to win.”

Newman is known as one of the toughest drivers to pass as others are more willing to give and take during a race. But Newman said there is a difference between racing hard and blocking.

“It's just a chicken way of driving and not very respectful for the guys around you,” Newman said. “You're there to race; you're not there to block.”

Blocking can be counterproductive, as some drivers have learned when their cars wound up in a pile of scrap metal.

“I'm not going to risk turning you (and) giving you the opportunity to turn me because basically when you get really aggressive on blocks, you open the door to putting everything in the other guy's hands and making him responsible for not creating an accident or a problem for both of you,” Earnhardt said.

“And really you can't fault the guy if he ends up doing that.”

Earnhardt said he doesn’t see blocking so often that he considers it a problem.

“When somebody blocks me, I'm not blown away by the notion,” Earnhardt said. “Some guys are more adamant about it than others. Some guys block stronger or block the whole racetrack and think that's OK. But everybody has got a different opinion.”